intelligence didn't know north korea was builds a nuclear reactor in syria. until israel showed the white house pictures and bombed it. two years later, they built a sprawling plant undetected. >> he'll need to show something. he needs to show a very skeptical public that he's in charge. and one of the time honored ways that's done in north korea is what we would consider a provocation. >> reporter: tonight senior u.s. officials defend the work of the cia saying, the key point is not marking the exact moment the dictator dies but having a solid framework to assess what may come next. that, of course, is the next test. >> andrea mitchell on the period of uncertainty that arrived this weekend on the news. andrea, thanks. >>> in syria, where most journalists are banned from covering what's going on there. new amateur video has surfaced, claiming to show some of this week's bloody clashes between protesters and government forces. in damascus, more than 150 people are reported dead in the last two days alone. arab league monitors are going into syria later this we